Massive week of events coming up this week - with some heavyweight international acts all around the country, the continuation of Rumble in the Jungle in Dunedin and a wee dubstep international for you to check out also.

In a recent press release from the phatclub, owners Dave and Selena have been granted resource consent to the land in Inangahua, used for the Phat07 NYE, for at least another 10 years. In addition, they have confirmed that huge breaks act, The Freestylers, are to headline the festival, along with amazing DnB duo, Zinc and MC Dynamite. Click on 'More' to see the full press release.

Well, no update on the upcoming gigs last week - whoops! As you may have noticed, Black Sun Empire finished their tour of NZ as part of the Phat Taster series - and I tell ya, the event I witnessed in Wellington was one of the most epic parties I have seen this year. If Phat08 is anything close to that (and you know it will be 100x greater), then Inangahua has one heck of a party on its hands.

'TANGAROA' -Inspired by the raw energy and power of Tangaroa, God of the Sea, Taane delivers a haunting, genre-defying piece of art that confronts the past in order to pave the way for the future. Accompanied by a visually stunning short film, this is the compelling first single off the highly-anticipated solo album, Past, Present, Future.

Tikidub Productions / Dirty Dub

Tangaroa is the hard-hitting, groundbreaking new track from Tiki Taane, one of Aotearoa New Zealand's most progressive and respected artists.

Contrasting Taane's trademark bass-heavy production with traditional Maori instrumentation, Tangaroa challenges its audience to consider the contradictions of contemporary society. It depicts the struggle between humans and their environment, the tensions of race and culture and the need to balance respect for the past with optimism for the future.

Paying homage to his Maori ancestry, Tangaroa features the powerful haka and vocals of Taane's father Uekaha Taanetinorau, while acknowledging his own position as a young Maori male in contemporary New Zealand through his unmistakable sound of future-dub fusion.

The accompanying short music film, directed by Carey Carter (Six Blankets and an Axe Pictures) tells the story of Tangaroa through cultural and spiritual symbolism, coupled with insightful composition. The film includes kuia (elder) Patu Haaka of Tamakimakaurau and kapa haka group Te Pou o Mangatawhiri of Waikato.

Tangaroa marks the exciting beginning of Tiki Taane's solo musical journey, and pioneers a fearless new direction for contemporary Aotearoa music and art. Also look out for drum and bass remixes by Pots (Bulletproof) and Sambora (Shapeshifter)

This announcement from phat regarding submissions - "We're sending out contracts over the next 2 weeks...there's 78 in total so don't panic if you hear of someone else getting an offer and you haven't yet...it's going to take a little while....everyone not offered a contract will automatically go onto a waitlist until we've had confirmations from everyone offered a set.....then we'll send out the "sorry but" list.....everyone will be contacted by the 30 August (as long as we have your email address), ie before early bird tickets go on sale 1 September....the standard of submissions has been off the hook this year....state of nz bass heavy grooves is in excellent health.....phat08 is going to be a crap-free zone for sure (in our humble opinion!)....can't wait"..Read the full post..

Seemingly not content with his incredible talent as a Drum and Bass producer, Bulletproof has stepped it up a notch (or is that down a notch) and created some dubstep under his new alias 'Razorgang' - head along to http://www.myspace.com/razorgangnz for a peek at his tunes.

On the 18th of August Wellington institution Sandwiches Nightclub will celebrate four years of existence with a all star jam sandwich featuring musical entertainment from the likes of Mu (Fat Freddies Drop), Ladi 6 and Parks, Downtown Brown, Killa Puha aka KP and Sunshine Soundsystem and local stalwart dj's Jake and Takkaz.

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